Coachella ticket-holders disappointed they won’t be seeing Beyoncé in April might find a little solace in this news: Lady Gaga has been tapped to headline in her place.
We won’t be seeing the first black woman Coachella headliner quite yet. But at least organizers found another woman ― who will be just the second in the event’s 19-year history ― to headline instead. Bjork has topped lineups twice, in 2002 and 2007, and while the female-fronted Portishead was originally scheduled to headline in 2008, Prince turned up for the top slot.
It’s been a busy year for Gaga, who will perform both Saturdays of the six-day festival, April 15 and 22. After releasing her new album “Joanne” in October, she put on a stellar Super Bowl halftime show, announced a world tour that kicks off in August, and got up at the Grammys to perform (albeit glitch-fully) with Metallica last month. She’ll be joined at the California festival by other headliners Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar.
Beyoncé, who is pregnant with twins, announced she’d be dropping out of the Coachella lineup last week on the advice of her doctors. Fans were not so happy. But Coachellans bent on seeing the “Formation” singer (in Gaga’s words) “party in the desert” will just have to wait another year ― she’s agreed to perform at the 2018 festival.
